Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
by stargaryen
Summary: Modern Westeros AU. When Sansa and Arya Stark decided to travel south to visit the elder sister's boyfriend, Joffrey Baratheon, things don't go exactly as planned. After an unexpected death, the sisters, along with several friends both old and new hit the road in an attempt to distance themselves from the crime committed.
1. Chapter 1

Arya walked through the store, eyeing the lines of snacks as she tried to decide what to buy. Really, she didn't _need_ more of anything to eat, but she didn't want to go back out to where Sansa waited with her Taylor Swift, and her pink car, and her constant nagging about Arya's feet on the dashboard. Eventually she'd have to, though. Hiding in this convenience store wouldn't work forever, because sooner or later Sansa would get tired of waiting for her and would come to find where she'd run off to. With a sigh, Arya grabbed a bag of candy, then another, then another, and headed to the cash register.

The cashier gave a tired smile, one that Arya didn't return as she handed over the cash, then grabbed all three bags of candy and walked out the door. It never failed to make her cringe whenever she saw Sansa's car, all bright, and pink and like something Barbie and her friends would ride to the beach in. And there she was, her sister, singing along to the bouncy beat of one of Swift's more upbeat songs. Well, that was better than the sad ones, because at least it meant Sansa wasn't on the verge of crying while driving. Arya had never known what to do when her sister started crying.

Opening the door, Arya threw the bags of candy into the middle of the car, between her seat and Sansa's. That earned her a glare, which she ignored as she slid into the seat, buckling her seat belt in place. As if to annoy her, Sansa turned the music up louder and Arya rolled her eyes, turning her face to look out the window as the car pulled out of the parking lot. They were only halfway to The Twins, and the trip had already begun to felt like an eternity. Not caring if she made Sansa mad, she reached over and turned the music off, savoring the silence that was sure to be short lived.

Startled, Sansa turned to glare at her sister who only rolled her eyes in response. "Arya!" Sansa cried in exasperation, "I was listening to that!" Arya turned back to stare out the window, ignoring her sister. Sansa fumed quietly. She'd never wanted Arya to come on this trip with her, but mother had insisted. Take your sister with you, she said. It will be fun, she said. They were only half way to The Twins and Sansa was on the verge of strangling Ayra with the seatbelt.

Turning her eyes back to the road, Sansa let her mind drift to her beloved Joffrey. Joffrey Baratheon, the son of Cersei Lannister, a ridiculously wealthy heiress and ex-marine CMC Robert Baratheon, had been Sansa's boyfriend since she was thirteen, and she just knew they were going to get married one day. A smile formed on her lips as she thought of his handsome face and golden hair. She was so in love with him.

The thought of completely ignoring Sansa was tempting, but the way she'd said_ I was listening to that_, as if she were the only person in the car that mattered, irritated Arya. A thousand biting remarks came to her, and she rejected them all, mostly because if she was going to be stuck in this car with _Princess_ Sansa, she'd rather not start a war between them that would last the entire way to King's Landing. Especially when they were already somewhat at war with each other, considering that Arya couldn't do anything right, and she'd already said plenty of things that weren't exactly nice to her sister.

When she turned back to look at Sansa, the first thing Arya noticed was the smile. That stupid smile that only reared it's ugly head when Sansa was thinking about _him_. For the life of her, Arya couldn't see what her sister saw in Joffrey. He was rude, not even close to being attractive, and had an unhealthy opinion of himself in terms of entitlement. Truthfully, all Arya wanted to do was punch him every time she saw him, and every time he opened his mouth, she wanted to sew his lips closed so she wouldn't have to hear his voice. But that, of course, would only get her in a kind of trouble she wasn't sure she wanted.

"Don't you have anything other than Taylor Swift?" Arya asked, even though she wanted to ask if Sansa was thinking of her disgusting dreamboat.

Sansa sighed. "If you insist on listening to something else, I suppose I can put on some Ed Sheeran or Adele. I didn't pack anything else, because I wasn't expecting mother to force your company on this drive." Leaving Arya to make her choice, Sansa looked into the rear vision mirror to check on her pug-dog, Lady. Her eyes widened as she noted that Lady was asleep on Arya's Bob Marley hoodie. Shit.

Checking the sideview mirror, Sansa flicked on her indicator lights and pulled into a rest area. She parked under a tree and climbed out of the car, walking around to open the back door. "Lady, to me." Lady's plump little body wriggled joyously out of the car and she immediately ran to the grass, flopping onto her back and waving her stumpy little legs in the air.

Sansa laughed at her dog's antics. Lady loved car rides, but she loved goofing off almost as much. Casting a quick look at Arya, Sansa grabbed the hoodie and shoved it in her purse. "I'm going to the restroom, keep an eye on Lady." She hurried across the carpark into the public restroom, gagging as she entered. Seven hells, the stench was almost unbearable.

Taking Arya's hoodie from her purse, she shook it out, removing all the little hairs that Lady had left behind. Sansa sniffed it, wrinkling her nose. Ick. She wasn't sure whether it smelled bad because of Lady or because Arya never remembered to wash her clothes. Either way, it smelled disgusting. Luckily, Sansa was always prepared with a spray bottle of Febreze in her purse.

Ed Sheeran or Adele. Neither option appealed to Arya more than the other, and she wrinkled her nose at the idea. Still, she grabbed the CDs from where Sansa kept them, shuffling the cases back and forth, reading the song titles to see which sounded the least annoying. She hadn't even noticed that Sansa had parked the car until she opened her door, and even then, Arya only gave her a brief glance as she told Lady to get out. She'd gone to the restroom at the store she'd bought the candy in, so she didn't need to use it again so soon. But then Sansa called out to her to watch Lady and Arya sighed, tossing an Ed Sheeran CD onto Sansa's seat before carelessly letting the others drop onto the floor.

Lady was rolling around in the grass when Arya stepped out of the car, content as could be it seemed. She doubted the pug would have run away, even if left unattended. Sansa had her trained very well in that respect, and Arya wasn't sure she'd ever met a more obedient dog in her entire life. Still, she didn't tend to like Lady all that much. Not because there was anything _wrong_ with her, but because she was so small. Arya prefered big dogs, dogs that you could go running with and they wouldn't tire easily, or dogs that you could pet the head of while you walked, not having to bend down in order to do so.

But Lady was sweet, that much was true. The moment Arya came in the dog's line of sight, Lady was up, running toward her on her little legs, looking up at her with such big, sweet eyes that Arya found herself kneeling down and scratching the dog behind the ears. Sure, she might not _like_ her, but she liked dogs. And anyway, it was probably just her projecting her feelings for Sansa onto the dog, which wasn't necessarily fair. As her thoughts turned to her sister, she glanced toward the building she'd disappeared into, wondering how long she was going to take. Sansa was of the variety of girl who took longer than others, because she had to check herself in the mirror, or whatever it was girls like her did.

_"But if I kissed you, will your mouth read this truth? Darling, how I miss you…"_ Sansa sang quietly to herself as she sprayed Arya's hoodie with a liberal amount of Febreze. Hopefully Arya wouldn't notice the smell, although if she did, even she would have to admit that Febreze smelled a lot better than dog and sweat. Sansa laid the hoodie on the bench-seat to air, and turned to the mirror. She stifled a scream as she took in her reflection.

Gods, her hair was frightful! Most of it had come loose from the bun she'd put it in earlier that day and it had frizzed out everywhere. But alas, Sansa was once again prepared, with a hair brush and elastics in her purse along with half her bathroom counter. She brushed her hair out, and tied it into a long braid. She wasn't particularly fond of braids, but it was easier to have her hair out of the way while she was driving. The last thing she needed was to total another car.

After stashing all her things, and Arya's hoodie, back in her purse, Sansa washed her face with cold water from the tap, and headed back to the car. As she exited the restroom, she noticed Arya petting Lady on the grass. She bit her lip and smiled. It was rare that Arya showed any affection to the small dog.

Lady noticed Sansa before Arya did, and the dog zipped away from her, running as fast as she could on her tiny legs toward the person she loved most in the world. Despite her feelings toward both creatures, Arya did envy that. She'd always wanted a dog, but every time she'd broached the subject with her parents, whom she still lived with, they always told her she wasn't responsible enough for one yet, and that neither of them were going to shoulder the responsibility of having to care for her dog. Plus, it didn't help that she wanted a big dog. A real dog. Not a tiny thing like Lady. Her mother always said it was easier to care for smaller dogs, they needed less tending than larger ones, but Arya didn't want one like Lady.

She watched Lady and Sansa, noting that yes, her sister's hair was different. Braided neatly, unlike the braids Arya usually did, which always seemed to come apart on her as the day progressed. But then, Arya had never cared much about her hair, usually having it pulled up and out of her face since she'd let it grow long again. Sansa, on the other hand, Arya felt could go an entire day with her hair looking perfectly fine. She'd seen it, though she was sure Sansa would disagree. Personally, she'd thought her sister's hair had looked fine the way it was, messy in a cute way, but of course Sansa didn't like that kind of look.

"You hungry for real food?" she called out to Sansa, because all Arya had been eating all day was junk food. Candy. Cookies. Ice cream bars whenever they stopped and the convenience store had the ones she liked. It had made her stomach start to feel a little sick, and though she wasn't technically hungry, she thought that maybe something a bit more substantial might make her feel less ill.

Sansa lifted Lady into her arms as the pug ran to her, and cradled her against her chest. Lady licked her face happily, causing Sansa to grimace. She carried the dog back to the car, setting her down on her special doggy blanket on the backseat. Lady looked up at her with soulful eyes and Sansa sighed. "No, Lady. You stay on the blanket, you're not supposed to lay on peoples clothing." Ignoring the sad look on her dogs face, Sansa surreptitiously slipped Arya's hoodie into her sisters large overnight bag.

Closing the door, she walked around to the front of the car and climbed into the drivers seat. "Where do you want to eat? I don't care as long as they have lemoncakes." Sansa frowned as something sharp jabbed into her thigh. "What the…?" She got out of the car and looked down at her seat. "Arya, why is my Ed Sheeran CD on my seat? I swear to the Old Gods, if it's damaged I will kill you."

Arya was in the process of getting into the car again, while trying to think of somewhere to eat, when Sansa asked about the CD. Frowning at her, Arya shifted her legs so that Sansa might not see the other CDs on the floor near her feet. She hadn't stepped on them at least, so she doubted they were damaged at all. And she hadn't thrown the other one very hard either, it had been a toss, a _gentle_ toss, even. It wasn't like she'd thrown Lady around. Unless Sansa had broken it when she'd sat down, and that couldn't be considered Arya's fault.

"You told me to pick a CD," she told Sansa. "I picked."

Reaching over, Arya took the case from Sansa, setting it in her lap as she flipped it open before pressing the eject button on the CD player. Switching out CDs she waited for Sansa to get back into her seat, neatly putting the case, with the now wrong CD in it, back where she'd originally gotten them. Hopefully it wouldn't be noticed that the rest of them were still missing. Sansa was already in an irritable mood, so Arya wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing it when her sister did realise she hadn't treated her precious CDs as kindly as Sansa wanted them to be.

"I don't really care where we eat either," Arya admitted with a shrug. "First place we see is fine by me."

Sansa got back behind the wheel and yawned. She was exhausted. They'd been driving for two days and she just wanted a hot shower and a good nights rest. Hopefully they'd find that at Moat Cailin.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a slightly colder day than Arya would have liked, the wind carrying a bite to it as she waited impatiently for Sansa to come down from the hotel room. Mostly, it was because she'd left her warmer jacket upstairs and didn't want to make the walk to get it from where it was buried at the bottom of her bag. Plus, it had taken a lot of convincing on her part to even get Sansa to consider staying longer today, rather than just continuing their drive to King's Landing. Arya supposed it would have just been easier if she'd _told_ her sister about the fact that she'd called Gendry and arranged for him to meet them there when she'd found out he was going on leave.

But she'd doubted Sansa would have agreed to it, just like she doubted if she were to go upstairs that Sansa wouldn't try to pack Arya's bag for her and whisk them out of Moat Cailin. All she had to do was stall for another three hours or so, and then Gendry would be there. It helped that she'd promised not to touch any of Sansa's things, and that she'd stop tossing her trash onto the floor, and mostly that she'd stop putting her feet on the dashboard. Personally, she didn't see what the problem with any of those things were, but if saying she wouldn't do them meant Sansa was willing to stick around Moat Cailin for a few extra hours… well, what was the harm in that?

Glancing up at the windows on the building, wondering if Sansa was even out of the room yet, Arya contemplated what more she could possibly promise that wouldn't make her sister throw a fit when she found out Arya had conspired behind her back, and that she now would have two passengers she wasn't overly fond of. It irritated Arya that Sansa seemed to let her boyfriend's opinion of Gendry colour her own feelings for him. As far as Arya was concerned, Gendry was one of the better men she'd met. Far better than _Joffrey_ that was certain. The problem would be getting Sansa to see past the fact that he was a bastard who happened to be a mechanic, getting her to see that he was one of Arya's favourite people, and for good reason..

Sansa stepped out of the shower and shivered, wrapping her fluffy bathrobe more tightly around her body. She walked out of the en suite bathroom and made her way to the bed, drying herself quickly. She slipped into her favourite pair of pink skinny jeans and hummingbird t-shirt, hunting through her bag for the owl jumper that her mother had given her just before they'd left Winterfell.

Everyone was obsessed with giving her bird-related things, ever since Joffrey's best friend Sandor Clegane had nicknamed her "little bird" when she was fourteen. The name had somehow stuck, and now Sansa was inundated with birds. She didn't mind though, she quite liked the colourful creatures, and had asked for a pet bird numerous times, but Catelyn Stark was adamant: one pet only.

It took Sansa half an hour to blow-dry and straighten her hair, and she knew that Arya would be beyond annoyed with her for taking so long, but she didn't much care. Arya was notorious for being late, it wouldn't do her any harm to wait on Sansa for a change. After deciding to leave her hair loose for the day, Sansa stepped into her leopard print ballet flats, retrieved her purse from the bedside table and headed for the door, noticing at the last minute that Arya had left her jacket behind. Deciding to make peace with her sister for the day, Sansa grabbed the jacket and locked the door behind her.

Arya was waiting outside, pacing on the pavement as she muttered quietly to herself. Sansa tossed the jacket at her sister, "You'll probably need this." Arya blinked at her in surprise, causing Sansa to sigh. "Oh come on Arya, I'm not all bad. I can be nice to my sister when the occasion calls for it." The look on Arya's face now resembled a stunned mullet. Sansa laughed. "Come on, Horseface. Let's go.. be touristy, or whatever it is you wanted to do."

Because Sansa had been thoughtful enough to bring her jacket down for her, Arya bit her tongue when it wanted to throw an insult at her. _Horseface_. She hated it when anyone called her that. It wasn't like she could control the way her face looked. And, in any case, she reminded herself she was trying to stay on Sansa's good side. For Gendry. For herself, so she wouldn't be stuck alone in a car with her sister, because while it seemed she was in a good enough mood _now_, Arya knew that Sansa could change that at any moment. At the slightest provocation. At least when it came to her.

The first place Arya wanted to visit were the ruins of Moat Cailin, a castle that had been there for centuries. But that was on the edge of town, where the land became swampy, full of bogs surrounding a long winding road that led to the broken, old fortress. Sansa objected to that, because it was farther than she wanted to drive, and she said walking around a place like that sounded like the least fun thing she could imagine. Finally, they settled on a movie, because neither of them could agree on anywhere they wanted to go, and after a while Arya forget she was supposed to be trying to make Sansa as happy as possible.

It would have been easier to remember if all the places Sansa wanted to go didn't sound as boring as staring at a rock all day. Sansa wanted to go to a boutique and try on one of the cute dresses she'd seen in the window, but Arya thought the old military museum sounded better. Or Sansa wanted to go visit the indoor gardens, with the blooming hothouse roses that were advertised, only Arya thought it would be more interesting to stop at an old dreary looking corner store that seemed to sell various odds and ends. The movie was a compromise that turned out to not be a compromise at all when Arya saw that The Avengers was playing.

A certain amount of pleading took place, and an awful lot of reminding Sansa of all the very handsome heroes in the movie, before Arya was able to talk her into seeing it again. It was only the third time for her, the second for Sansa, unless she'd seen it with someone else. Doubtful. In any case, Arya enjoyed it as much this time as she had the others. By the time it was over, she had three missed calls from Gendry and several text messages asking where she was, if they were still in Moat Cailin and if she could still pick him up from the airport. The second Sansa started the car, Arya turned to her, trying her best to not look like she was going to ask a giant favour of her.

"Any chance you'd mind stopping by the airport?" Arya asked. "I'll buy you all the lemoncakes you want."

Meanwhile, at Moat Cailin National Airport, Gendry Baratheon was pacing in the arrivals lounge. His heart was racing, his palms were sweaty and his brain thought of one thing only. Arya Stark. He repeated her name over and over in his head, as though he was trying not to forget it (as if that could ever happen). AryaAryaArya. His best friend, his light in the darkness, the moon of his life (or as the Dothraki would say, jalan atthirari anni). They were like two sides of the same coin. Scratched and dinged, even when one side is bent and misshapen, that second side will always be there, contouring to the other side's need. It was too bad for him that Arya did not return his affections and thought of him only as another brother. She had eyes only for Jaqen H'ghar.

Lifting his head to check the time on the wall clock, his eyes landed on a much more interesting sight. Arya. She'd changed a lot since he last saw her, four years ago when he'd first been deployed to Essos. That was no surprise, she'd only been fourteen then, and now here she stood in front of him, a grown woman. She was taller now, though not by much. Her dark brown hair had grown to just above her chest, hanging in loose waves that framed her face. He almost laughed, she hated having her hair loose, she'd obviously done it because she knew he liked her hair flowing free. Her eyes were still the same stormy grey that they'd been when he left, only now they shone with unshed tears. Seven hells, Arya had been beautiful at fourteen, but at eighteen she was absolutely stunning. His heart thudded in his chest, threatening to smash through his ribcage.

He walked towards her, but he hadn't gotten very far when she broke into a run and launched herself into his arms. He caught her, crushing her to his chest, holding her as if she could disappear at any moment. Gods. Her body fit against him perfectly, her legs wrapped around his waist. She clung to him, shaking silently, and he buried his face in her hair, weeping unabashedly with the sheer joy of being back with her.

Arya disentangled herself from Gendry, stepping back so she could get a real look at him. He was bigger than he'd been before, stronger looking, though he'd always been strong. But he also looked like he was carrying the weight of something with him, probably whatever he'd seen in combat. Jaqen had the same look sometimes, when he thought she wasn't watching. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask Gendry if he was alright, because he was crying, because he'd yet to really let go of her, his hand gripping her wrist as if he never meant to let it go. Instead she took a step back toward Sansa, pulling him with her.

"So, you should know, she's not the happiest about this," Arya began, glancing back at Gendry. Noticing the frown on his face she hurriedly continued, "I know I should have told her before that you'd be coming, but there never seemed like a good time to do it."

The lie slipped out of her effortlessly. Of course there'd been time, plenty of times when Arya could have mentioned it. But she'd assumed Sansa would have vetoed the idea, even come up with scenarios where they simply drove right past Moat Cailin. She had taken it better than Arya had expected, something she attributed firmly to her sister's love for lemoncakes. And there would be plenty of lemoncakes, all the lemoncakes Sansa wanted. Arya would buy every single one she could find if it meant there'd be as little objection to Gendry joining them as possible.

Because Gendry was her best friend. He was the only person, aside from Jon or Jaqen, she felt she could tell absolutely anything to. And even with the others, there were certain things she shied away from mentioning. But with Gendry, she'd always felt comfortable, always felt safe coming to him. She hadn't seen him in four years, but she wrote him letters as often as she could. Not every week, because despite his assurances that it wouldn't annoy him, she always thought it might. So they'd talked, written back and forth, sent pictures, told stories to each other, shared things, kept in touch. It just wasn't the same though.

Arya had missed him, though she hadn't realised quite how much until now. Really, all she wanted was to sit him down and really talk to him, hear all the things he hadn't written in the letters. But Sansa was waiting, and there would be plenty of time for that on the trip. They still had some time before getting to King's Landing. Perhaps she'd sit in the back with him and they'd chat while Sansa listened to her music and Lady took the front seat. Yes, that sounded perfect, then they'd be able to talk. For now, she just had to make sure Sansa didn't change her mind and decide to leave Gendry here.

"Just, smile, and be nice, and act like you've got manners," Arya told him as they approached the waiting Sansa.

Sansa had been watching Arya and Gendry's reunion with a hitch in her throat. How had she never noticed the way Gendry looked at her little sister, his bright blue eyes brimming with love and affection. Seven hells, it was the exact same way her father looked at her mother every day. Sansa wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the whole thing. Gendry was clearly infatuated with Arya, but from what Sansa knew, Arya was crazy about Jaqen and had never shown anything other than brotherly love towards Gendry. Shaking her head, she plastered a smile on her face as the two of them walked towards her. She may as well play nice, since Arya had promised to buy her as many lemoncakes as she wanted.

"Gendry! It's so lovely to see you again, it's been eons." Sansa walked forward to hug the taller boy, surprising herself along with both Arya and Gendry. Gendry hugged her back awkwardly, his hand still holding her sisters wrist. Stepping back, Sansa fought back a smile. It was kind of cute, in a way.

Sansa led the way back to the car, and wasn't surprised when Arya plopped Lady in the front passenger's seat and climbed into the back with Gendry. They must've had a lot to talk about, they hadn't seen each other in four years, and until Gendry had been deployed, the two of them had seen each other at least a few times a month since they were old enough to talk. Sansa sighed. She'd always wanted a friendship like Arya and Gendry, but her only real friend had been Jeyne Poole, and she'd moved off to who knows where with her crazy boyfriend Ramsay Bolton. Arya and Gendry were completely focused on each other, so Sansa turned on the CD player and blasted some Ed Sheeran. She deliberately picked one of the love-songs from the album, Lego House, simply to see if either Arya or Gendry would notice or if it would affect their behavior in any way. Sansa was meddling in things that didn't concern her, and she felt devilishly happy about it. She liked Jaqen, and he made Arya happy, but he never looked at her the way Gendry did. And who knows, maybe Arya secretly harbored feelings for her gorgeous best friend.

The thing about Sansa's music was that Arya only registered it in terms of finding it annoying. Sometimes, later, she'd catch herself humming a tune or singing a single line from one of the songs, but she never really listened to it while it was playing, at least not consciously. This time was no different. It was merely background noise to her, and now that Gendry was in the car, it would be background noise she could more readily ignore. Tuning everything else out, Arya turned in the seat, pulling her legs up so that her knee was touching Gendry's thigh.

"So, tell me, has anything exciting happened since your last letter?" Arya asked, because it had been three weeks. And plenty of things could have happened in that amount of time.

Gendry swallowed, Arya's words echoing in his head. _Has anything exciting happened since your last letter?_ Oh, something had happened alright, but it wasn't exciting, and it certainly wasn't something that would bring a smile to Arya's face. He took her hand in his own, stroking her fingers softly.

"I shot a little boy, Arya. It was an accident; he ran out onto the street at the wrong time and instead of pausing to check my target, I shot anyway. He died instantly." More tears threatened to fall from his eyes, and he angrily wiped them away with his free hand. Seven hells, when did he turn into such a craven? "A little boy _died_ because of me Arya. A little boy that was someone's son, possibly someone's brother. Can you imagine the pain you'd feel if someone took the life of your brothers, or Sansa? I took a life that was never mine to take. Does that answer your question?" He knew he was acting like an asshole, but he'd been reliving that horrible moment every single night since it happened, and talking about it now was the last thing he wanted to do, but because it was Arya he was talking to, he told her anyway.

Arya hadn't intended to make him upset with her question. Hadn't realised that something of that magnitude may have happened to him. Really, she'd meant _had anything good happened_. But now that he'd said it, now that she knew why he had that look about him, she wasn't sure what to say. So she squeezed the hand holding hers, hoping that it conveyed that she was sorry. Sorry that it had happened, sorry that he was carrying those feelings inside of him, sorry that she'd asked, here in the car where Sansa might overhear. Because she knew this wasn't the sort of thing Gendry would share with just anyone. Arya glanced toward the front of the car, but from what she could tell, Sansa wasn't listening to them, and in any case, probably couldn't even hear them.

If there was one thing Arya prided herself on, it was that she didn't cry easily. Yes, perhaps she'd teared up a bit when she'd seen Gendry, but she hadn't _cried_. Now, she couldn't stop herself from feeling it, in her throat, the sting of it in her eyes. C_an you imagine the pain you'd feel if someone took the life of your brothers, or Sansa?_ The words echoed in her mind, and not just because she was imagining it. No, it was because of how he'd said it. It didn't matter to her that his tone was harsh, not when she could hear how it was killing him to think on it. And seeing him with tears on his cheeks nearly undid her. Arya didn't know what to say, knew that perhaps anything she did say wouldn't be enough, so she held his hand tightly, and moved closer to him, so she could rest her head against his shoulder and just sat with him as he cried quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

Sansa tried her best not to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it was hard. She could hear Gendry's choked sobs and Arya was uncharacteristically silent. Not wanting to cause a disturbance, Sansa turned the music down and focused on the road. She drove long into the night, deciding it would save time and money by not stopping at a hotel for the night since Arya and Gendry had long since fallen asleep, and besides, either Arya or Gendry could take over driving duties the next day.

It was 6am when Sansa almost fell asleep at the wheel. She was hoping that they'd have reached the Twins by now, but they were still half a day's drive away. Deciding she'd rather not kill anyone, Sansa pulled over to the side of the road and looked at her map. According to the map, there was a small motel about a mile down the road. Fortunately she managed to drive there without causing any accidents.

Sansa parked the car in front of the main office, before leaning over the backseat and gently shaking Gendry awake. "We're at a motel, can you carry Arya in? Try not to wake her, you know how she is." Sansa collected her overnight bag and Lady, waiting patiently for Gendry to remove her sister from the car. When he emerged, she laughed out loud. Gendry had both his and Arya's overnight bags hooked over his shoulder, Arya's hoodie was hanging off his head and Arya herself was clinging to his neck in her sleep.

Sansa led the way into the motel office, where they were met by an old woman wearing a bright yellow raincoat and a tea cosy on her head. Sansa smiled politely, "Hello, my name is Sansa. We would like a room with one double bed and one single." It may have been easier to just get two rooms, but Sansa figured she and Arya could just share the double while Gendry took the single. The old woman peered at them. "Ye married, girl? I won't 'av no sinners in me motel!"

"Oh yes, this is my husband Gendry, and his younger sister Arya." The lie rolled of Sansa's tongue easily, as she flashed the old woman the white-gold band that had been a gift from Joffrey, hoping the woman wouldn't notice that it was on the wrong finger. Mumbling something about toast, the old woman handed her a key. "Yer room is the last on the left. Keep yer mouths shut, there's other people tryna sleep. And that mutt stays off the furniture, ya hear me girl? Ye pay before ye leave, an don't ye think of tryna leave without coughing up yer money!"

Sansa bit her tongue to refrain from retorting back that Lady was not a mutt, she was a purebred Pug and a very well-trained one at that, but she realized if she did, the old woman would probably kick them out. Smiling tightly, Sansa led the way down the hall to their room. Once inside, she turned to Gendry. "Seven hells, what an irritating old woman. You can take the single, Arya and I will share the double." Gendry set Arya down on the bed, but she wouldn't let go of him. Sansa bit back a laugh, Arya was annoying even in her sleep. Gendry sighed. "Why don't you take the single, Sansa. You'll probably sleep better without Limpet here kicking you in her sleep, anyway."

Sansa giggled. She was too tired to change, so she stripped down to her underwear and climbed into bed with Lady. To hell with that crazy old bat, Lady _always_slept in Sansa's bed.

Arya was dead to the world, at least in the sense that she didn't register that she'd been picked up or carried into the room. She hadn't even realised she'd fallen asleep until she woke up in the dark, her face buried in someone's shirt, a strong arm holding her. Still half asleep, she forgot they'd picked up Gendry from the airport, forgot they were even traveling to King's Landing at all. The part of her brain that was still caught somewhere between dreaming and waking knew only that she was sharing a bed with a man, and the only man she should be sleeping with was Jaqen. Instinct made her shift her body a fraction away from him, giving the hand curled beneath her chin the room to move, slipping down beneath his shirt so she could run her fingers lightly across his warm skin before resting on his waist.

Lifting her face, Arya's forehead brushed against his chin, so she kissed his neck before using the arm trapped beneath her just slightly to push herself up until she could kiss the corner of his mouth. It never occurred to her that this man might not be Jaqen, that the body she pulled closer to hers, until she was pressed flush against his, might not be her boyfriend's. Arya didn't register that she still wore her jeans, or that he still wore his, something that neither she nor Jaqen would ever have done if they'd gone to bed together. All she thought, in the hazy state she was in, was how nice it felt to be in someone's arms again, and how much she liked waking up this way. Kissing him just seemed the natural thing to do.

Gendry was dreaming. Arya was pressed up against him, her hand under his shirt, her lips against his skin. He'd had dreams like this before, but this one felt so vivid; he could even smell her apple and orange flavoured body spray. Arya sighed softly, as Gendry ran his hands under her shirt and down her sides. Arya's hand toyed with his zipper momentarily before slipping under his jeans, sending jolts of electricity down his spine as her soft skin made contact with him. He hardened instantly, groaning at the feel of her hand grasping him. Gendry's eyes flew open at the sudden pleasure of her stroking him.

It took him a moment to realize that this was not a dream, and Arya was in fact pressed flush against him with her hand down his pants. Seven hells. This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen. Gendry may have wanted to be with Arya for a long time, but he didn't want it to happen while she was seeing another guy. He wouldn't let her make that mistake. Gendry groaned, using every ounce of his willpower to force himself to push her away. "Arya? Arya, stop." She fought him, clearly still half asleep, probably thinking that he was Jaqen. "ARYA!"

The sound of his voice brought her fully awake, because it wasn't Jaqen's. Arya's hand stilled, her eyes coming open so she could see Gendry staring at her. Instantly, she drew back, her hand pressing against his chest to push him away before she turned so she was laying on her back, eyes locked on the ceiling. With burning cheeks she ignored the way her body felt hot, like the mere touch of his skin against hers had set her on fire inside. It wasn't a feeling she was unfamiliar with, but when it came to Gendry, it certainly was. Attractive though she found him, she'd never thought of him _that_ way, not until this moment. And she felt horrible. _Jaqen_. Gods, she'd thought he was Jaqen, and then she'd basically _violated him_.

Arya was fairly certain Gendry didn't even see her that way. Wasn't she like a little sister to him? It wasn't as if she were even all that pretty, not like Sansa was, or some of the girls she'd met that Gendry knew down South. But none of that even mattered, because Arya had Jaqen. Only it wasn't Jaqen beside her. It was Gendry, who she wanted to run away from right then, but at the same time wanted to curl back up next to, to kiss him again, more than just a little peck. To feel his hands against her again. And wasn't that just terrible of her? Made her a terrible girlfriend, and an even more horrible friend. So she just stayed there, trying to pretend nothing had happened and failing.

Gendry's heart was pounding. He was still painfully hard and he wanted nothing more than to pull Arya back into his arms and kiss her again. He settled for a cold shower. Unable to meet her gaze, he avoided looking at Arya until he was safely in the bathroom. Gods, he was _stupid_. He never should have gotten into that bed with her, it was just asking for trouble. And now she's essentially cheated on Jaqen with him. His fist flew into the mirror, cracking it in several places. Gendry knew he'd probably have to pay the motel owner for a replacement, but he didn't care. He was stupid, so very stupid, and he needed to punish himself for fucking shit up once again.

Pulling his arm back, he punched the mirror again, this time shattering it. His knuckles were bleeding, but he paid no notice. How was he supposed to face Arya again, after this? She was going to hate him. And when Jaqen found out what had happened, Gendry knew his face would end up being rearranged. He was absolutely disgusted with himself. Arya was his best friend, how could he take advantage of her like this? No longer bothered with having his cold shower, Gendry slumped to the floor with his head in his hands.

From the bed, Arya heard Gendry's fist hit something, then again, and a sound like shattering glass filled the room. She was on her feet in an instant, barely giving Sansa a glance despite the fact she'd jerked awake and was staring around like she wasn't sure what was happening. The door wasn't locked when she got there, and Arya found Gendry sitting cradling his head, at least one of his hands bleeding. The mirror was broken, bits of it various places, and she knew this was her fault. Her fault because of what she'd done, because of her _mistake_. There was only a moment's hesitation on her part before she knelt beside him, touching Gendry's arm gently.

"Hey," she said quietly, hoping that it wouldn't make him angrier, her coming in like this. There wasn't any other explanation for her, except that he was angry. Not just angry in the general sense of the word, but angry at _her_. Had the situation been different, she may have laughed it all off, the half asleep touching, the broken mirror, but she couldn't this time. Not when she knew Gendry already had too much on his plate. And here she was making it worse. "Hey," she said again when he didn't look up or acknowledge she was there. "I didn't mean to... I'm so sorry," and Arya hated that she sounded so unlike herself, so unsure of her words and of what had happened.

When Gendry didn't make a sound or move, Arya blew out a breath softly. As she stood, she heard Sansa moving in the room behind her, probably coming to see what all the commotion had been about. Ignoring her, Arya grabbed a washcloth from the towel rod on the wall and ran it beneath the sink's faucet, ringing it out so it wasn't dripping wet, and then knelt beside Gendry again. As gently as she could, she started cleaning his bloody hand, hoping at some point he'd stop pretending she wasn't there, even though that's all she'd wanted. For him to pretend she hadn't been there on the bed beside him, that she hadn't had her hand wrapped around him, caught up in thoughts of Jaqen.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, wishing she could take it all back. Because this was Gendry. Her best friend. And if she lost him because of this... It wasn't something she wanted to even think about. What she wanted was to feel like she could be like they usually were, joking over anything that was a little awkward or uncomfortable. But how? Maybe they could have, in a perfect world. In a world where Gendry didn't break mirrors because he was mad at her. In a world where he hadn't already been emotionally distraught because he'd shot a little boy. In a world where she hadn't made it all that much damn worse. But they weren't in a perfect world, and Arya didn't think she could make it better.

Gendry tried to ignore Arya when she came into the bathroom. But then she started apologizing and cleaning the blood of his hand and he just couldn't. She sounded so unsure of herself, and he hated that he was the cause of that. Arya finished cleaning up the blood and stood to leave, but his unwounded hand shot out to pull her back. "Don't go," he told her quietly, motioning for her to sit down beside him.

"I... this wasn't your fault, Arya. I never should have been in that bed with you. But you were clinging to me in your sleep when I carried you in, and it felt nice to have you near me again after all these years. I just wanted to sleep near you, to know that you were safe and that I could get to you if you needed me for any reason. I should have been stronger, though. Should have left you in that bed alone. I should never have let myself get lost in you this morning. I should have been a man, not a horny teenage boy. If I had been thinking with my brain instead of my dick, we wouldn't be in this position. I understand if you hate me, Arya. I truly do. Just say the word and I'll catch a bus the rest of the way."

Gendry refused to look at her, didn't want to see the look on her face. He'd betrayed her trust, and now he was going to pay for it. He grabbed her hand and braced himself for the inevitable goodbye.

"You think this is your fault?" Arya asked, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. She chose to ignore some of the things he'd said. Like, _I should never have let myself get lost in you this morning_ or _I should have been a man, not a horny teenage boy_. Because it made her wonder a lot of things she probably shouldn't have been wondering. What was more important to her was that he somehow seemed to think she'd be mad at him, that she'd hate him. That she'd want him to leave. Arya couldn't stop the words before they came out, "You're not that fucking stupid, Gendry. I don't recall _your_ hand down _my_pants."

And then she realised what she'd said, and that he was holding her hand. Her face burned so hot she thought it might literally be on fire. The room seemed too small suddenly, with too little space between them for her to feel comfortable. Would pulling her hand away make things more awkward? Arya thought maybe yes, so she kept it where it was, hoping that maybe by some small chance of fate Gendry had magically not heard the last sentence she'd just uttered. But when had she ever been that lucky?

Sansa rushed around the bedroom, hurriedly making beds and yanking on her clothes from the day before. She felt disgusting and desperately wanted a shower, but she also desperately wanted to get out of the motel before that crazy old lady came banging on the door to find out what Gendry had broken. She tied her hair in a messy bun and rushed into the bathroom, stopping dead at the sight of Arya and Gendry sitting amongst broken mirror-glass.

"What the fuck happened in here?" Arya opened her mouth to answer but Sansa held up her hand to silence her. "You know what, I don't even want to know. Just get your shit together, we need to leave before that crazy old bat comes banging on the door." Sansa rushed back out of the bathroom and opened the small window in the bedroom. Arya would fit through easily, and Sansa could just squeeze herself out, but she had no idea how Gendry would fit.

Shrugging her shoulders, Sansa tossed their overnight bags out into the garden below. Arya and Gendry shuffled out of the bathroom, and she dragged Arya to the window, all but shoving her bewildered sister out it. She passed Lady through, and crawled out herself. Gendry stared at the window momentarily, before reaching up and ripping the whole thing right out of the wall. Sansa blinked. She had no idea he was that strong. He laughed out loud at the look on her face, and climbed through the hole where the window had been. As they ran towards the car, Sansa laughed quietly to herself. They'd just ditched a motel without paying, and it had been her idea. She must be losing her mind.

As she slid into the front seat, Arya felt like she'd stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Her entire world seemed to be flipping upside down, and who exactly was this person pretending to be her sister? This Sansa with her messy bun, and her saying the word _fuck_like it was the most natural thing in the world, and insisting they leave before taking full responsibility for the damage inflicted to that mirror. And now the wall. Maybe none of it was actually happening. Maybe she was still dreaming. Pinching herself, Arya frowned at the pain indicating this was all very much real. So much for that idea.

Glancing back, Arya saw Gendry sitting with Lady on his lap. He was looking at her with an expression on his face she couldn't quite place. Or maybe it was that she didn't want to place it. It seemed easier to turn away. Maybe in a few hours it would be easier to ignore, and maybe by tomorrow they could pretend what had happened in the bed had never happened at all. For the first time in her life, Arya found herself reaching for the volume on Sansa's CD player, turning up that awful Taylor Swift until she couldn't hear herself think and just watched as they passed everything by.


	4. Chapter 4

Gendry's heart shattered as Arya turned away. Willing himself not to cry again and make himself look like even more of a twit, he decided to check his phone, since he'd turned it off after calling Arya from the airport, wanting to save as much battery as possible.

_6 new messages._

_[Little Shit]_  
_Heard you are on leave. Pity. Nobody wants you here, why don't you just go back to the desert and play your little war games. Lots of love, Joff._

_[Ginger Stark]_  
_Are you in love with my sister?_

_[Stoner Sis]_  
_Gendry! I hear you'll be on leave for a few months; you have to come see me and Hot Pie! Love you big bro xo_

_[Hot Cakes]_  
_Man, Mya won't shut up about you being on leave. Hurry up and visit already._

_[Fat Bastard]_  
_Glad you're still alive. I'd invite you over for dinner but Cersei still doesn't like you._

_[Wolf Girl]_  
_Stupid bull-headed boy._

Gendry rolled his eyes at the texts from Joffrey and his father, but the text from Sansa had him stumped. _Are you in love with my sister?_Surely he wasn't that obvious? Apparently he was, if even Sansa had noticed his feelings for Arya. Groaning, he threw his phone on the floor and closed his eyes, blocking out the world.

Arya's head turned involuntarily to look back when she heard Gendry's phone hit the floor. Her hand tightened around her own phone as she held it in her lap, with its message from Jaqen asking if their trip was going well. Telling her he missed her. It wasn't like she could tell the truth. _Hey Jaq, just gave Gendry a nice hand job and fucked everything up! Thanks for asking. P.S. Miss you, too. See you soon. _Because that would go over so nicely. Arya didn't feel like lying, which meant Jaqen would just have to get a response a little later, once she was feeling more up to it.

For almost an hour they rode with no conversation, just the sound of Sansa's music, until Arya's stomach started growling. Turning down the volume, she turned her body so she was facing Sansa and part of the backseat. Taking a deep breath, she told herself that if she just acted like nothing had happened, everything would be fine. Nothing had to be different. No one else had to know. But she met Gendry's gaze and had to look away. Clearing her throat she stared at Lady, whose head was resting on Gendry's leg while she slept, his hand idly petting her.

"Are you two hungry?" Arya asked. "Should we stop at the next place we see?"

The tension in the car was so thick Sansa could have cut it with a butter knife. Something had obviously happened between Arya and Gendry, but with Gendry looking like his cat had been run over and Arya acting like some sort of clone of herself; Sansa decided it was probably best she didn't even ask.

She was relieved when Arya broke the silence, asking if Sansa and Gendry were hungry. It wasn't long before they came upon a fast food restaurant; the building painted red and black with a huge three-headed dragon sign stating the name Targaryen's: Best Fire-Roasted Food in the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa had heard many good things about Targaryen's, but she'd never actually eaten there.

As she pulled the car to a stop, Gendry all but leapt out, muttering something about not being hungry and wanting to take a walk. Sansa watched him stalk off, frowning. Something was definitely going on between him and her sister.

Against her better judgement, Arya followed Gendry, pausing just long enough to tell Sansa to find them a seat inside and they'd be in soon. She ignored the quizzical look on her face, offering no explanation. Because he was taller than Arya, with longer legs, Gendry was able to cover more ground than she was, and she had to jog a little to catch up with him. When she did, her hand caught the side of his shirt. Just enough to catch his attention and then she let it go, falling into step beside him. He still wouldn't look at her.

"Can we not do this?" Arya asked finally, hoping it would make him stop walking. "Can we just rewind and say it never happened?"

Gendry turned on her as she reached for him again, the full fury of his rage exploding into her face. "Damn it Arya, get away from me! I cannot be around you right now, I just can't!" He shoved her roughly away from him, and as she stumbled to her knees on the concrete, he immediately knew he'd gone too far.

"Shit, fuck, I-I'm so sorry, Arya. I don't know what I'm doing. You just make me so crazy. I don't want to hurt you, I just want to keep you with me, keep you safe. But you're not mine to look after, you're _his_." Gendry dropped to his knees beside her, lifting her face up gently with his hand. "Please forgive me?" He pleaded, yet more tears streaming down his cheeks. Seven hells, he was turning into a complete and utter craven over her.

No one could ever claim that Arya was a gentle tempered soul, and in that moment, when Gendry pushed her so hard she fell, one already slight frayed knee on her jeans tearing and scraping the skin, all she felt was the sting of it. All she felt was the frustration over what had happened, her disappointment in herself, her irritation at Gendry for not looking at her, her hatred for the war over what it had done to him, but mostly her confusion because of what he'd said. The second he touched her face she jerked back, pushing his hands away, letting all her feelings flow through her, twisting together until they come out as pure anger.

"Don't," she told him, softly at first, then almost shouting, "Don't touch me."

Before he could say anything, before she could say anything she might regret later, Arya was on her feet, walking away from him. She was shaking when she opened the door, slipping inside and scanning the room for Sansa. Spotting her sister across the room, Arya willed herself to calm down, to clear her face of her feelings, to steady her hands. But a glance down told her blood was visible on her knee through the torn jean, something she knew Sansa would notice. She always noticed things about Arya that weren't right, and in this case, she wasn't sure Sansa would ignore it. Not when Arya was bleeding.

When Arya walked into the restaurant bleeding, with Gendry nowhere in sight, Sansa lost it. She was exhausted, hungry and just wanted to be in King's Landing with Joffrey, but instead she was stuck here with the King and Queen of Drama. "Arya," she seethed, "I don't care what happened this morning, and I don't care what happened out there, I just want you go back to Gendry and fix it. I will not have the two of you moping about for the rest of the trip."

Shooting daggers at her sister, Sansa turned away and picked up the menu. _Seven hells, they had lemoncakes!_Sansa ordered an entire platter of the delicious pastries, along with a fire-grilled roast beef sandwich and chicken nuggets. As the waitress walked away, Sansa noticed that Arya was still at the table. She screamed inwardly at her sister's stubbornness. "ARYA STARK! GET OUTSIDE AND TALK TO GENDRY RIGHT NOW!"

Glaring at Sansa, Arya stayed where she was. She hated being told what to do, hated when her sister got that bossy tone. No part of her was in the mood to listen to Sansa bitch at her, though. After a few seconds, Arya stood; giving her sister a look that she hoped might kill her. No such luck. Then, she was back out the door, but the Others take her if she was going to go back to Gendry and try to talk to him. He'd _pushed_her. Knocked her down and hurt her. It didn't matter to her right then that he'd apologised, that he'd genuinely seemed concerned for her, and she refused to even acknowledge anything he'd said. Because it was just too confusing.

Heading in the opposite direction from where she'd left Gendry, not even knowing if he was still there, Arya walked around the building. She sank onto a bench, pulling her leg up so she could look at her knee. It looked worse than it felt, a bruise already showing on the parts of her skin that weren't bloody. Arya slipped her phone out of her pocket, staring down at it. Then, before she even realised what she was doing, she threw it as hard as she could at the ground in front of her. For a second, she felt satisfied as she watched it break, as she always did when she got mad and threw things, but then she just realised she'd have to buy a new one and found another reason to be mad at herself.

As for Gendry, he was still kneeling where she'd left him, staring blankly at the ground. There was a smear of Arya's blood on the concrete and his closed his eyes against the sight, refusing to look at it. He'd _pushed_ her. He'd _hurt_her. And not just emotionally, but physically. He'd always claimed to be nothing like his father, but here he was shoving women around like ragdolls. He couldn't have been more sickened by himself if he tried.

It was the sound of whimpering that brought him out of his thoughts. At first he thought it was Arya, crying somewhere nearby, but as the sound grew louder, and more inhuman, he realized it was some sort of animal. Peering into the shadows against a nearby building, he noticed what looked like three young men beating a small animal with a stick. Gendry's rage grew as the men laughed at the creature as it tried to crawl away.

Stretching to his full height, Gendry stood and stormed across the concrete. The kids turned as he approached, waving their sticks in what they seemed to think was a menacing way. Gendry laughed, fuelled by all of his pent up rage from over the last four years. _Hit me,_ he thought, _give me a reason to beat the ever-living shit out of you_. They advanced on him, but Gendry was quicker; he hadn't spent four years in the military for nothing. He punched the first idiot square in the face, breaking his nose. The kid squealed, his hands immediately going to his face, giving Gendry the perfect aim for a kick to the balls. Shrieking, the kid dropped to the ground. The other two looked at each other, dropped their sticks and ran for it. Gendry kicked the remaining male a few more times for good measure, before turning his attention to what he discovered was a small fluffy puppy.

The poor thing was terrified, huddled into a little ball, spitting out a tiny puppy growl as he tried to get closer. Reaching into his pocket for some leftover beef-jerky he'd had on the plane, Gendry crouched down and broke it into small pieces, carefully laying a small trail towards him. The puppy sniffed, and clearly starving, ran forward, devouring each piece of jerky in seconds. Gendry smiled. The tiny thing reminded him of Arya. The puppy sniffed around his feet, looking for more jerky. He dangled the remaining piece in front of the tiny creature, laughing as it squeaked excitedly. Clearly the wee thing hadn't learned how to bark yet.

He stroked its back tentatively, not wanting to scare it away. The puppy whimpered as his fingers found a tender spot where one of the sticks must have hit it. Gendry sighed. There was no way in the seven hells that he was leaving it here to fend for itself, especially considering those losers might come back. He picked up the tiny thing ever so carefully, tucking it into his jacket.

As Gendry walked back into the restaurant, Sansa's eyes widened at the sight of a puppy's head sticking out of his jacket. She blinked, not sure that she was seeing correctly. "Gendry... is that a _puppy_in your jacket?" He nodded, sitting down at the table and pilfering one of her chicken nuggets. She watched as he broke the nugget into little pieces and fed each piece to the puppy. Inspired by Gendry's boldness at bringing a puppy into the restaurant, Sansa opened her large purse to reveal a wiggling Lady. Sansa was nervous though, she was sure that any moment an employee would approach them and tell them to get out. Gendry laughed as Lady stuck her head out, sniffing. "You're turning into a little rebel, Sansa Stark."

Sansa blushed. "Never mind me; where in seven hells did you get that puppy?" Gendry looked at her for a moment before answering. "Some assholes were beating it with sticks. So I beat one of them up and took the puppy when the other two ran away." Sansa was stunned. She had no idea people were horrible enough to beat puppies. The restaurant door chimed, and she looked up to see Arya walking in wearily.

Of course Gendry was at the table with Sansa. Arya walked up, avoiding looking at either of them as she stole one of Sansa's lemoncakes and slipped into one of the empty seats. As far as she was concerned, she didn't want to speak to either one of them right now. The first moment she got she was going to steal Sansa's keys and retreat to the car, food be damned. Honestly, she didn't even feel like she could eat anything right now. Her stomach was in knots, and the lemoncake sat on a napkin in front of her untouched. She stared at it until she felt uncomfortable, Gendry and Sansa both not talking either, so an awkward silence fell over the table.

Eating the lemoncake gave her something to do, something to focus on other than the silence. It wasn't until she'd taken a bite and glanced over that she saw the puppy. Choking a bit, Arya coughed, slapping a hand over her mouth to keep herself from spitting the lemoncake all over the table. "When the fuck did we get a puppy?" she asked, once she'd stopped coughing.

Gendry kept his eyes averted from Arya as he spoke, not wanting to anger her again. "Since about ten minutes ago. I rescued it from some wankers who thought it would be fun to beat it with sticks." As Arya gazed at the puppy, Gendry got an idea. "Here's the thing though... I don't have room for a dog at my apartment. And I know you've wanted a dog for ages... why don't you keep her? Even your mother couldn't say no to this little face." Gendry looked at Arya, finally, allowing her to see the pain and guilt in his eyes. He needed her to see that he was sorry, that he never meant to hurt her. That he loved her, and as long as she was happy, he would be happy. _Even if she was with Jaqen_.

Swallowing hard, Arya nearly choked on the lemoncake again. She didn't want Gendry to look at her like that, like he was the lost, wounded puppy that needed someone to save him. Focusing on the actual puppy, she let his words sink, but there was no way in all the seven hells she knew her mother believed in that Catelyn Stark would ever allow her to bring a puppy home without a war breaking out. Except... what was she supposed to tell Gendry, with his puppy dog eyes? Hadn't she already made things worse for him? What was the harm in saying yes, that she'd take the puppy?

Holding out her hand, Arya let the puppy sniff her. She shrank back against Gendry when Arya moved her hand too fast, though. Then her nose poked forward, sniffing Arya once, twice, three times before her tongue darted out, licking the remnants of the lemoncake off Arya's fingers. In that moment, every negative feeling she had melted away. All she saw was this cute little puppy Gendry was holding, and how could she even be angry at anything while looking at that? This adorable little thing reduced her to a puddle of mush. And here she'd been living her whole life thinking she was better than that. Sure, she cooed about _pictures_of puppies, but she hadn't ever gotten this way about them. Not even Lady, who had been small and precious and enough to reduce most girls to blubbering idiots.

Arya was the kind to act that way _on the inside_, with no one the wiser. Yet here she was, certain she had a look on her face she'd find terribly embarrassing if she could see it. But she just couldn't help it. Couldn't help the smile that touched her lips, or the little noises she was making when the puppy tipped her head to the side as she watched Arya, almost like she was trying to figure out who this new person was and why she didn't have more lemoncakes to feed her. Arya looked at Gendry, feeling herself blush at the way he was looking at her. _Jaqen_, she reminded herself, but she didn't look away. Arya felt she owed Gendry that much after everything she'd done today already. She smiled at him, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless and said, "Of course. Of course I'll take her home with me."

Sansa smiled as she watched her sister with the puppy. Arya was finally acting like a girl, for once. It was at that moment a Targaryen's employee noticed the dogs. "Oi! Get those filthy animals out of here!" Sansa screamed in a panic, hoisting Lady into her arms and all but running out the door. Arya and Gendry followed more slowly, the younger Stark laughing at Sansa as she fled.

As they drove off, Sansa realized that other than the lemoncake that Arya had stolen, her sister and Gendry hadn't had anything to eat. "Ugh, shit, I'm sorry, you two didn't even get any food" Sansa apologized profusely, "There's supposed to be a Tarly's nearby, we can stop at the drive-through." Her words went unheard though, as Arya was too busy playing with the puppy in her lap, and Gendry was too busy watching Arya. Sansa smiled. Maybe things were finally getting back to normal.

It wasn't long before they came across the Tarly's restaurant drive-through, where Arya and Gendry proceeded to order enough food to feed the entire Marine Corps- Arya had four venison burgers, three orders of chips and a bag of triple chocolate cookies, while Gendry had six steak sandwiches, two orders of fries and an apple pie. Sansa was stunned, she was sure neither of them would be able to eat everything. Arya ploughed into her first venison burger, a look of utter bliss on her face, while Gendry shared his steak sandwich with the puppy, and a greedy little pug who was begging for food. Sansa groaned. Lady was trained not to do that, but she always tried to get away with it anyway.

The sky darkened as they drove on, and it wasn't long before they pulled into a motel about six hours drive from The Twins. Exhausted, Sansa forked out for two rooms, so that they could all have an undisturbed night's sleep. After taking her much needed shower, Sansa crawled into bed with Lady and fell into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
